Humble Leader

Happy Thursday, 

Are you humble?  Do you enjoy giving others credit?  Are you committed to lean?  Here is an exert from a great book I am reading, “2 Second Lean."

Besides being 100% emotionally committed to lean, a lean leader must be humble.  What does that look like?  Let me give you a tangible goal.  Commit yourself to validating, complimenting and/or recognizing the work of your employees at least ten times a day.  Your people should be accustomed to hearing you say things like, “That’s a great idea, Stacy,” or “Eric, I appreciate how hard you’ve been working on this project,” or “Actually, Nancy, I like your idea better than mine.”  When humility becomes a central attribute of the lean leadership a vortex of creativity and buy-in will follow.  When there is a culture where people know there is not an egomaniac in charge they can begin to grow and thrive.  They know that leadership is singular in their focus to give others credit above themselves.  There are no politics, no jealousies or rivalries because everybody knows they’ll be acknowledged for their contribution and more importantly, they understand their job is to acknowledge others’ contributions.  A lean culture is a generous environment.  It’s generous in giving credit to others, generous in respect, generous in offering ideas, support and help.

Stop and think about that and how it relates to you?  I think most of us would say we give credit sometimes to others, but how many of us can say we do it 10 times a day?  Keep in mind, we are all on the same team and we need each other to succeed.  Let's pull together and point out each others positives.  You & I can only succeed and grow by helping other people grow and succeed.  Zig Ziglar said it best..."You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."  Help others get the praise for a job well done....there is no limit on how much you can give. 

Humble lean is all about Leadership excellence.

Have a great Thursday!

Chris